Wife had to ‘beg’ hospital for haemorrhage scan

Body says it was a ‘serious failing’ not to do procedure on first emergency arrival

A man’s brain haemorrhage was only discovered after his wife “begged” NHS Fife staff to carry out a CT scan.

Now NHS Fife has been rapped by a health watchdog, which found the delay affected the man’s long-term health.

Margaret Blackwood complained to the Scottish ombudsman about the care husband Rab received at the Victoria Hospital.

While on holiday in Benidorm in 2015 Mr Blackwood, 64, of Kirkcaldy, fell getting out of bed, hitting his head and losing consciousness for 10 minutes.

When the couple returned home he went to the emergency department where he was treated as a minor head injury and discharged the same day with advice.

Mrs Blackwood complained he was not given appropriate treatment and that a CT scan was not done.

Then, 11 days later and suffering from constant headaches, he returned to Victoria Hospital.

Mrs Blackwood said she had to “beg” staff to carry out a CT scan, which revealed he had suffered a brain haemorrhage.

He was transferred to the Western General in Edinburgh, where he had a craniotomy for an acute subdural haematoma.

He was then transferred back to the Vic but his wife was unhappy with the nursing care.

During the investigation, the ombudsman found an urgent CT scan should have been carried out when he first arrived at A&E.

“The decision not to was a significant and serious failing,” he concluded.

The ombudsman also found the failure to perform a CT scan had delayed Mr Blackwood’s diagnosis and treatment and adversely affected his outcome.

“If the diagnosis and treatment had been made sooner there would, in all probability, have been a significantly improved prognosis.”

However, he said the treatment he received when he returned to the emergency department was of an excellent standard.

When it came to nursing care, the board had identified a number of issues where his care and communication with his wife had fallen short of the standard expected. This had now been addressed with the nursing staff concerned.

Director of nursing Helen Wright said NHS Fife accepted the findings.

“We always work towards providing patients with the best possible care, however, we accept that in this case we fell some way short of providing this.

“Since this event we have put in place measures to prevent such an incident from being repeated in future and will consider whether any further service improvements can be made to improve the care of patients who have suffered head injuries.

“As a board, we have apologised formally to the family involved and I welcome the opportunity to reiterate that apology publicly.”

Picture: George McLuskie. Rab and Margaret Blackwood at their home in Kirkcaldy. NHS Fife has been criticised for not giving Mr Blackwood a CT scan on his first arrival at the Victoria Hospital.